I mean no
disrespect to its human performers, but by far the most interesting character
in Forbidden Planet is Robby the Robot. Unlike previous movie robots,
who were transparently actors in robot suits, Robby did not closely resemble a
human being: a clear chamber of moving parts took the place of his head, his
arms were elastic and tentacle-like, a panel across his chest lighted up
whenever he spoke, a matter-processing device was installed in the position of
his stomach, and he rolled, not walked, from place to place. More than the
theatrical sets, the cheesy special effects, or the electronic music score,
Robby's appearances, and the way the other actors accepted him as an equal,
conveyed the utter strangeness of that film's alien environment; he dominated
every scene he was in, and the movie dragged whenever he was offstage.

Sensing that a
new screen star had emerged, MGM rushed him into another film, The Invisible
Boy; but Robby somehow seemed out of place as a robot from the future
standing in a boy's room in modern suburbia, and while he could capably project
placid obedience in Forbidden Planet, the greater dramatic demands of
this role—expressing an inner conflict between the commands of his master
computer and his fondness for little Richard Eyer—were apparently beyond his
abilities. The film failed, and Robby's film career apparently came to an end.

However, Robby soon found a home in television, where he could serve as a useful
prop for cheap producers who didn't have the time or money to build
their own robots. He made two appearances in both The Twilight
Zone and Lost in Space and had some fun with The Addams
Family; he briefly brought Columbo into the realm of mildly
futuristic science fiction; he added his eerie gravitas to the ravaged
future of Ark II; and an episode of Mork and Mindy,
where Roddy MCDOWALL gave him a voice, represented
a memorable meeting of talented lost souls on the skids. Since reference
books obstinately refuse to acknowledge him as a performer, many of
his television roles may be forever beyond the scrutiny of filmographers.

As television
science fiction grew up (if only in terms of special effects), Robby soon was
no longer welcome in television, though filmmakers with fond memories of the
character have brought him back for cameo appearances in Hollywood Boulevard,
Gremlins, The Phantom Empire, and Earth Girls Are Easy,
where he figures momentarily in Geena Davis's chaotic nightmare about her
uncertain future with an alien boyfriend. And toy models of Robby are still
being marketed on websites today, further evidence of his enduring impact on
science fiction filmgoers.

Robby the
Robot merits a place in this volume because he was the first figure to
demonstrate that in science fiction films, overtly non-human characters,
constructs of the special effects department, can indeed function as
sympathetic and involving characters. Robby therefore stands as the honorable
precursor of many noteworthy film robots, including the very similar Robot of Lost
in Space, who battled against the original Robby in one episode, "War of
the Robots"; the affecting Huey, Dewey, and Lewey of Douglas TRUMBULL's Silent
Running (1971); R2-D2 of Star Wars (1977) and its sequels, who is
distinctive and likable although mute and utterly inhuman; the overly precious
Johnny Five of Short Circuit (1986) and Short Circuit II (1988);
and, less memorably, the cute little robots on board spaceships in The Black
Hole (Gary Nelson 1979) and the television series Buck Rogers in the
Twenty-Fifth Century (1979-81), the latter voiced by Mel Blanc.

I saw Robby
the Robot once at a 1974 Star Trek convention, standing in a hotel
lobby, inactive but still available to be gazed on by admirers. If my original
suggestion for his big screen comeback—portraying an aged robot in a Star
Wars film, rescued from the scrap heap to instruct the young R2-D2 and
C-3P0 on the roles and responsibilities of robots—now seems unlikely, there
has recently been announced a forthcoming remake of Forbidden Planet,
and producers have stated that they will make no effort to "update" the Robby
the Robot character. So, why not bring the original performer back, to reprise
his greatest role?